The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

83 – Dancing at the Ball (16)

084.

An early night that had become slightly chilly.

Music played in the atmosphere where darkness was lightly settling.

The performance of the famous high-class orchestra, which I had heard at least once before, was quiet.

It was slow-paced music that matched the elegant and noble gestures, as if to show the dignity of the nobility.

As the atmosphere befitting the word ‘ball’ was created.

Those who had been watching each other began to move.

The young lords and ladies, who seemed to know this, stepped forward with the partners they had planned to dance with in advance.

Those who did not know in advance but wanted to enjoy the ball hurriedly began to search for partners.

Since everyone had dressed up.

The boys and girls in their prime blushed.

The young lords bravely extended their hands in white gloves.

The young ladies bravely took those hands gently.

Several pairs that were formed stepped forward,

and began to move their bodies to the pleasant music.

Those who gained courage from this couldn’t just stand still.

Before long, the banquet hall was filled with a fresh atmosphere.

The heads of influential families, who were watching the scene with satisfaction, also matched steps with their wives.

It wasn’t easy to get a chance to dance at a ball hosted by a family like Dranus.

As the atmosphere began to build in earnest,

young lords began to extend their hands to the young ladies around Kallen.

Those who had been hesitant all this time gained courage from the atmosphere.

Those confident in their appearance or physique approached the young ladies and offered their white gloves.

They thought, surely those young ladies wouldn’t all dance with just one boy.

And the result was,

rejection without exception.

Eliana, Selassie, Sinat, Daphnis, Lichesa, Laris, all of them.

Laris seemed to hesitate, but lost interest when she saw the other young ladies all reject.

More than that, she couldn’t bear the curiosity of the situation where five young ladies were showing interest in one boy.

One by one,

they were coldly rejected without a moment’s hesitation.

There were even young ladies who rejected without turning their heads.

It shattered the courage gained from the atmosphere.

At the same time, the absurd assumption that all those young ladies were interested in the boy became a reality.

In one corner of the banquet hall,

an unbelievable situation was unfolding where the young ladies of influential families, including those from the five great families of the empire, were showing interest in just one boy.

*

“What do you think, Kal?”

“…”

How should I take this?

Since Sinat first mentioned the ball, a high-class orchestra began to play.

The young lords and ladies around were each pairing up and stepping to the center.

I am not unfamiliar with the ball.

It’s just surprising that Sinat didn’t mention such a big event.

Kallen is one of the people who knows Sinat best, along with Blamia.

Considering her lively and talkative personality.

It’s hard to believe she wouldn’t mention something like a ball in advance.

She would have brought several dresses for the party and pondered over them.

She would have definitely come to Kallen and talked about what to wear.

But Sinat didn’t say anything.

She only mentioned that there would be a party.

Only then did Kallen understand.

Of course, these girls, being daughters of an enormous family, couldn’t come to a party hosted by Dranus without dressing up.

But even considering that, these girls were dazzlingly beautiful.

Outfits that couldn’t be imagined except for this occasion.

Makeup that fully showcased their appearance.

Necklaces and bracelets that were neither too much nor too little.

It seemed as if they wanted to look good for someone.

So, there is something understandable.

Even after the party ended, they didn’t leave, looking as if they were expecting something.

The young ladies who suddenly disappeared and then appeared together.

The identity of the ‘dance’ that Eliana and Liches mentioned.

“…Sinat.”

“I’m sorry. But I couldn’t tell you, Kal. It was a promise.”

“A promise?”

“Yes. Something like that.”

Sinat shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

She lifted her dress and twisted her body this way and that.

“How do I look? Does it suit me?”

Just as Kallen was about to nod.

Eliana tightened her grip on Kallen’s arm.

“…Kallen.”

Eliana, who turned Kallen’s head towards her, also took a step back and lifted her dress.

“Kallen.”

And next to her, Selasia smiled brightly and joined in.

She also elegantly lifted her dress.

“Sir Kallen.”

That wasn’t the end.

Daphnis, who was standing beside them, took a deep breath and stared straight at Kallen.

Kallen, looking at the ladies, met the eyes of Richeza, who was looking at him coquettishly.

“What are you looking at? I’m not going to call your name.”

A slightly different look from before.

In a situation where he couldn’t understand what was going on, he couldn’t say anything.

He just tried hard to understand this scene.

The ladies glanced at each other and then nodded.

Then, Sinat spoke up.

“Kallen.”

A voice more serious than ever.

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“Do you see over there?”

Sinat pointed to the people dancing in the center of the banquet hall.

Kallen glanced over and nodded.

Dancing.

What could be more than that at a ball?

Moreover, no matter how he looked at it, this flow seemed to contain no other meaning than dancing.

“I suggested it. The person who will dance with Kallen will be chosen by Kallen himself.”

Kallen had many questions upon hearing that.

Why wasn’t it decided in advance?

It was hard to accept that all of them wanted to dance with him.

Of course, it didn’t mean he denied the relationships he had built with them.

He had gone through countless things more than dancing.

But now, the meaning was different.

A banquet hosted by Dranus.

Attending the ball held there and dancing together could hold significant meaning depending on how one perceives it.

And to make such a decision, their statuses were too noble.

As Kallen hardened her expression with such thoughts.

Sinat, who seemed unusually tense, spoke.

“I’m sorry for deciding on my own. But I had no choice. Everyone wanted to dance with you, Kallen…”

Kallen looked beyond Sinat.

Then, the young ladies with hardened faces were staring at Kallen herself.

They were all intelligent girls.

They knew well what position they were in and how their actions would be perceived.

Those girls couldn’t possibly be unaware of the significance of their actions now.

Starting from tomorrow, rumors would spread throughout the entire empire, beginning with the social circles.

They were already hot gossip due to their remarkable presence.

Now, they were stepping into a world where they could no longer hide.

Kallen herself would surely be involved in that process.

The landscape of their presence would no longer be dismissed as mere rumors.

People would emerge trying to make something out of it.

Kallen, with a hardened face.

She looked at them.

They wouldn’t know.

The boundary of the fifth rank that Blamia had set.

The fragments of talent she had painstakingly hidden until now.

There was already an example in Laris.

They would receive even more spotlight, and even excluding Daphne and Richeza, the impressions of the three young ladies included Kallen herself.

Could the high-ranking people of the empire be unaware of that relationship?

Blamia had said.

When there is leisure, one can be infinitely merciful, but when one’s own is in danger, that instinct will be revealed.

Dancing with these girls held such meaning.

Talking pleasantly at the banquet could be dismissed with some suspicion.

But crossing the line was not allowed.

That would be admitting that it was something beyond mere friendship.

I still cannot reveal myself.

Unaware of this, the girls generously offered a dance.

“Could you choose…?”

Sinat’s words drove a wedge into such thoughts.

Kallen silently watched them, standing there for a long time.

The atmosphere felt a bit chilly.

It was the moment when the six young ladies felt it.

“No.”

A heavy voice that resonated with the heart echoed.

“Huh…?”

Was it because it was unexpected?

Sinat involuntarily took a step back.

Eliana, usually indifferent, had slightly trembling lips if you looked closely.

Selassie, seemingly flustered by the voice she heard for the first time, wiggled her index finger.

Daphnis tried to calm her pounding heart.

Richeza opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“Sorry, but I can’t dance with anyone.”

And then it fell.

The unchanging answer.

“Why?”

Sinat reflexively asked back.

The smile disappeared from her lips, and anxiety began to fill in.

Because she had never imagined it.

That Kallen would refuse, such a cruel future.

The other young ladies were no different.

Kallen’s words were so different from what each of them had imagined.

Unforeseen anxiety settled in.

“Is it because I acted on my own and made you angry…”

“No.”

Sinat asked if her actions were wrong, but she could breathe a sigh of relief at the answer.

At least Kallen didn’t seem angry.

His stiff expression gradually softened.

“Not now.”

Kallen said as he looked around.

Following his gaze, the young ladies turned their heads and saw that the place was filled with the heads of various families, young lords, and young ladies.

Those enjoying the ball.

Kallen was pointing at them with his eyes.

No one failed to understand the meaning.

Though they didn’t realize the boundary of the fifth rank, they knew at least that Kallen couldn’t dance with anyone in this situation.

“Then…”

“After the banquet.”

The young ladies turned their heads again at the voice they heard while looking around.

“Let’s talk after this ball.”

He was smiling slightly.